Mendon’s defense stepped it up in the second quarter helping the Lady Hornets get the win in the SJV opener Friday over White Pigeon, 53-12.

“The defense in the second quarter helped us pull away from the Chiefs,” Mendon coach Leasa Griffith said. “We are coming together more and more.”

The Hornets led 10-5 after one quarter then shut down White Pigeon in the second to increase the margin to 33-5 at halftime. It was 47-10 after three quarters.

“We realize we are going to have to play ourselves into shape since the weather has not cooperated in the past few weeks,” Griffith said. “Monday night’s game against Athens will be a good challenge for us.”

Mendon (6-0, 1-0 SJV) was led by Brooke Howard with 23 points, Jenna Griffith tossed in 10, Grace Leighton and Lauren Samson each chipped in with eight and Alexis Russel added four.

On the glass, Russell collected six rebounds for the Hornets, while Samson had four. Griffith added eight steals and six assists, while Jackie Friel tallied four steals.

Miller added six rebounds for the Lady Chiefs, Bailey tallied four and Riley Phelps and Hagner each had three. Bethany Hagner dished three assists, while Skyler DeMeyer had three steals.

Mendon 69, White Pigeon 51 (boys)

A strong second quarter lifted the Hornets to a 69-51 road win in SJV basketball Friday night.

Mendon (2-2, 1-0 SJV) held a 17-12 lead after one quarter before doubling up the Chiefs, 22-11, in the second quarter to push the advantage to 39-23 at halftime. The score was 54-33 after three quarters.

Three Hornets hit in double-figures led by Marcus Craft with 19, Joe Gales tossed in 14 and Elijah Klepper had 10. Also for Mendon, Zac Darmofal chipped in with eight, Kyle Wiswell scored six, Jordan Medich added five, Erik Batten had three and Parker Cupp and Logan Slaughter each had two.

Gales grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Hornets, while Slaughter collected seven and Klepper and Craft each had five. Gales handed out four assists and had four steals, while Darmofal and Craft each totaled three assists.

Centreville 59, Bronson 55 (boys)

Centreville topped Bronson 59-55 in boys’ basketball action Friday.

It was a back and forth contest that saw an 11-5 advantage for Centreville in the third quarter prove to be the difference.

Page 2 of 2 - Bronson led 15-13 after one quarter and 29-24 at the break.

Centreville also held a 24-21 advantage in the fourth quarter to win.

Leading Bronson was Eric Toledo with 19 points while Jordan Alger had 13 and Sean Kenny added 12. Tossing in four points each were Chase Carpenter, Kyle Roberts and Blake Fox.

DeMarco Taylor led with 13 points for Centreville while Jon Peckinpaugh added 11 and Chase Alexander had nine points.

In the girls’ game between Bronson and Centreville, the Lady Vikings picked up a 44-24 victory.

Defensively they were able to hold Centreville to single digit scoring in three of the four quarters.

Bronson was led in scoring with 21 points from Skyler Sobeski. Liz Baker tossed in 10 points while Kinslea Blouin added four points. Kelsey Robinson tossed in three points while Alexa Ratkowski, Grace Pyles and Hanna Hoover each had two points.

Centreville got seven from Jenna Beeker and five from Bailee May. Adding four points was Mattie Kirby. Madison Hunter added three while Catherine Rigby and Faith Morell each had two points and Rudie Crawford made a free throw.